New Iceland
New Iceland (Icelandic: Nýja Ísland )) is the area where people from Iceland in 19th century mainly settled.
The area currently exists in Manitoba, Canada. The Icelandic Heritage still can be found easily in this area.
Background
Due to the harsh natural and economic status such as huge volcanic eruptions in Iceland, quite a few Icelanders left their homeland during the 19th century, and eventually the main group of Icelandic settlers migrating from Ontario to Manitoba left Kinmount on September 25, 1875. One of the main reasons for the choice of Lake Winnipeg as the colony site was “the abundance of fish,” but according to the Icelandic people in Manitoba, “their first attempts at fishing on Lake Winnipeg were not successful.” For this reason, many Icelanders in their first years were hungry; moreover, their first “winter of 1875-1876 was one of the coldest on record in Manitoba, and the settlers’ clothes, including the leather shoes from Ontario, were not suitable for the rigorous weather.” However, immigrants eventually learned to handle the ax, how to prepare the soil, fish through ice, and hunt game. They learned how to dry the land, build better houses, etc. They, the people from Iceland (or Vestur-Íslendingar, which means Western Icelanders in Icelandic language) called their habitation as New Iceland, and the region works as the center of Icelandic Heritage in Canada nowadays.
Other information
- According to Statistics Canada, Manitoba is home to the largest Icelandic population outside of Iceland.[1] There are about 26,000 people with Icelandic ancestry living in Manitoba,[2] making up about 2% of the total population of Manitoba. About 35% of the Icelandic-Canadian population lives in Manitoba.[3]
- Currently many ethnic festivals related to New Iceland, such as Íslendingadagurinn, are held in these areas, and also Lögberg-Heimksringla is printed in Winnipeg.
- In University of Manitoba, there is Icelandic Department, and students can learn Icelandic language and literature.
See Also
Link
Further Reading
- Angrímsson Guðjón (1997), Nýja Ísland: Saga of the journey to New Iceland ISBN 978-0888012555
- Gerrard Nelson, Riverton Saga (Out of Print)
- Arnason David (1994), The new Icelanders: A North American community ISBN 0888011865